[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-bound-to-my-enemy":3,"chapter-bound-to-my-enemy-bound-to-my-enemy-chapter-30":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Bound to my Enemy",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1599968,2067,"Chapter 30.","bound-to-my-enemy-chapter-30",30,"\u003Cp>I woke up earlier than usual.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My body just refused to stay asleep. The house was quiet in that early-morning way. I lay there for a bit, staring at the ceiling, listening to the low hum of the air conditioner and the distant sound of someone moving around downstairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I eventually got up, showered, and dressed in something simple. Jeans. A soft long-sleeved top. Nothing fancy. I tied my hair back, glanced at myself in the mirror, and looked away before I could start overthinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When I got downstairs, breakfast was already set.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Auntie May was moving between the counter and the table, humming under her breath. She’d been in Lucas’s house for as long as I could remember. Longer than Ivy, longer than Caleb. She used to make my lunch before school, braid my hair when I was too young to care, scold me when I skipped meals. At some point, she stopped feeling like staff and just became... family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Morning, my girl,\" she said when she saw me. \"Sit. Food will get cold.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I did.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ivy came down a few minutes later, still in one of Lucas’s oversized shirts, hair messy, eyes barely open. She dropped into the chair beside me and rested her head on my shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You look like you didn’t get much sleep,\" she murmured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I slept,\" I said. \"Just... barely .\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucas and Noah joined shortly after. The table filled the way it always did. Plates clinking. Chairs scraping. Someone asking for more coffee.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Normal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too normal, considering everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We were halfway through breakfast when Auntie May disappeared upstairs and came back down carrying a large box.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was matte black. Clean. Heavy-looking. There was a cream-colored envelope taped neatly to the top.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stopped beside me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This came early,\" she said. \"Courier asked for you by name.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I frowned. \"For me?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She nodded and set it down gently, like it was fragile\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The room went quiet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ivy straightened immediately peering at the box. \"What is that?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don’t know,\" I said honestly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The envelope had my name written on it in clean, sharp handwriting. No return address. No explanation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I slid my finger under the seal and opened it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was an invitation\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Formal. Thick paper. A dinner date, time, location. Zane’s name printed at the bottom like a signature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then there was a second note tucked inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Short.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You’ll wear what’s in the box.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>— Z\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stared at it for a second longer than necessary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let me see,\" Ivy said, already leaning over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She read it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her mouth fell open. \"He did not.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I lifted the lid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside was a dress wrapped in soft paper, deep and dark in color. Beneath it sat a velvet case with jewelry inside. Elegan and expensive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I felt heat crawl up my neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He’s got some nerve,\" Ivy muttered. \"After you told him you’d handle it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucas pushed his chair back slightly. \"You don’t have to wear that.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I know,\" I said, though my voice sounded tired.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Auntie May hovered nearby, concern written all over her face. \"Is everything alright?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes,\" I said quickly. \"It’s fine.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ivy snapped the box shut. \"Nope. Absolutely not.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stood. \"Finish your food. We’re going out.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucas looked between us. \"Out where.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Shopping,\" Ivy said. \"Because apparently he thinks Elaine can’t dress herself.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I tried not to smile. Failed\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We don’t need to rush,\" I said. \"It’s just...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s not just,\" she cut in. \"It’s control. And I don’t like it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She grabbed her phone, already pulling up store locations. \"We’ll find shoes. Jewelry. Something that actually fits you. He can keep his dress.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hesitated. Then nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Okay.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We excused ourselves from the table, Ivy dragging me upstairs to change while rattling off ideas. Heel height. Necklines. Colors that would photograph well but still feel like me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I slipped on my jacket, I glanced at the box sitting downstairs, untouched now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tonight felt closer than it should.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And whether Zane trusted my fashion sense or not, I wasn’t about to walk into that dinner looking like something he picked off a rack for me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I was doing this, I was doing it my way.\u003C\u002Fp>",701,"2026-06-06T09:39:37.139Z",1,"novelbin.me","1cddd16950379686cb4f0f0f81d601ec0d35b104624d5ed6386cbc192f1a4ceb","bound-to-my-enemy-chapter-31","bound-to-my-enemy-chapter-29",266,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fbound-to-my-enemy-cover.jpg"]